Locking receptacle



A. H. MACLAREN LOCKING RECEPTACLE March 7, 1950 Filed Feb. 2, 1949Patented Mar. 7, 1950 -UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOGKING RECEPTACLEArthur H. Maclaren, Tewksbury, Mass. Application February 2, 1949,Serial No. 74,658

3 Claims. (Cl. 206-) This invention comprises a novel locking receptaclewhich may take the form of a toy safe or the like, having in itsstructure a combination of rotatable members telescopically related andprovided with cooperating grooves and passages shaped to accommodate asingle locking ball.

An important characteristic of my invention is that in all lookingpositions the locking ball bears simultaneously on three rotary bodymembers of the receptacle so that it is impossible for any one to detectby feeling or hearing when the members are turned into releasinposition. Going more into detail, the receptacle of my inventioncomprises three interfitting rotary body members having oppositelydisposed circumferential grooves or reentrant annular surfaces and aSingle interfitting longitudinal passage.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the three members are soshaped that the principal locking groove has a composite circumferentialsurface in which all three body members are represented. Thisconstruction defeats the possibility of opening the receptacle byputting a strain on it and turning its various parts while feeling for areleasing position. In the present novel construction the locking ballmust move radially a slight distance before it passes down thelongitudinal passage and in the meantime it has three key bearing pointsdistributed among three rotary elements. Consequently, no indication canbe detected when one of the three elements is brought into releasingposition. Any feeling process is further complicated by the fact thatthe locking ball is freely movable in the various grooves.

Another important feature of the receptacle of my invention is that itsrotary membersare so designed that their external cracks do not extendinto any of the ball retaining grooves or passages so that even if madewith a loose fit, it is impossible to detect the position of the lookingball.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the complete receptacle,

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of its three interfitting parts shown inexploded relation,

Fig. 3 is a view in longitudinal section, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in longitudinal section and on a greatlyenlarged scale.

The receptacle herein shown is selected merely the invention may beembodied. It is herein illustrated as a toy bank or the like and may beconstructed of wood, metal, or any suitable plastic material. The baseof the receptacle has a collar it from which projects a reducedcylindrical body ll provided with spaced circumferential grooves I2 andI3. The two grooves are connected by an external longitudinal passage M.

The body II is made hollow to receive the con-Y tents of the safe.

concentrically and telescopically fitted upon the body H is a sleevemember. having a collar 15 of the same diameter as the collar l0, and areduced portion comprising a shoulder I6 and a projecting annular flangeIT. The sleeve member is provided with an internal circumferentialgroove IB which, when the parts are assembled, registers with the grooveI2 of the base and forms with it an annular passage of circularcross-section. The sleeve member is also provided with a longitudinalpassag I!) which opens through the flange H. The sleeve is freelyrotatable upon the body ll of the base, and in this rotation thelongitudinal passage I9 may be brought into registration with thelongitudinal passage M of the base and when so located forms a passagewhich is circular in cross-section.

The receptacle is completed by a cap 20 having the same externaldiameter as the collar I0 and sleeve I5. It is telescopically andconcentrically received upon the body II, the flange I! and the shoulderl6 of the sleeve. It is provided with an internal circular groove 2|which, in the assembled receptacle, registers with the groove 13 of thebase and forms therewith a complete passage which is circular incross-section. At its top end the cap is provided with an annular recessshaped to fit over the shoulder l6 of the sleeve. It is alsoprovided'with an internal longitudinal passage 23. It will be understoodthat the cap 26! is freely rotatable upon the base and sleeve andconsequently that its longitudinal passage 23 may be brought intoregistration with the longitudinal passage M of the base and thelongitudinal passage l9 of the sleeve. A locking ball 24 is freelymovable in the longitudinal and circumferential passages formed by theregistering grooves above described.

It will be seen that when the locking ball occupies a position in thepassage l-2l8, the base and sleeve will be locked together and can bereleased only when a longitudinal escape passage is provided by bringingthe passages l4 and I9 into exact registration. When this has been doneand the composite passage located at the bottom of the assembly, thelocking ball will roll into a position from which it may pass throughthe longitudinal passage thus releasing the base and the sleeve forseparation by relative telescopic movement.

Further, it will be seen that when the locking ball occupies the passageformed by the registering grooves 2|, 1 3 and the end of the flange I1,the cap will be locked to the base with the sleeve held between thesetwo members. The cap can only be unlocked by bringing the longitudinalpassages l9 and 23 into exact registration. When this has been done andthe composite passage thus formed located at the bottom side of thereceptacle, the ball will reach a position in which it may rolldownwardly through the composite passage into the passage l2| 8. Thispassage, therefore, acts as a reservoir for the locking ball while thecap is removed.

In the accompanying figures the three members of the receptacle areshown as provided with a single external longitudinal mark whichindicates the position therein of the concealed longitudinal passages.It will be understood, however, in practice that all three members maybe externally graduated with marked divisions and that the purchaserwill be provided with the key combination indicating the releasingposition of the three cooperating members of the receptacle.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail a preferredembodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent:

1. A cylindrical receptacle comprising a shouldered base having spacedcircumferential grooves therein connected by a longitudinal passage, anannular sleeve rotatable upon the base and having an internalcircumferential groove and an intersecting longitudinal passage, a capalso rotatable on the base and having an internal circumferential grooveand an intersecting passage, and a ball freely movable in said groovesand passages when the same are disposed into registering relation.

2. A cylindrical receptacle comprising a base having a body of reduceddiameter provided with spaced circumferential grooves therein, a sleevemember rotatable upon said body and having an internal grooveregistering with one groove of said body and a flange supplementing asecond groove in said body, a cap rotatable on said body and having aninternal groove also supplementing said second groove in the body of thebase, there being also a single longitudinal passage in each of thethree parts, and a ball freely movable therein.

3. A receptacle comprising a base having a cylindrical body with acircumferential groove therein and an intersecting longitudinal passage,a sleeve and a cap rotatable on said body and both having surfaces whichsupplement the groove of the body and form a composite ballretainingsurface therewith, the said sleeve and cap each having a longitudinalpassage that may be brought into registration with the passage of thebody of the base, and a ball freely movable in said groove and passage.

ARTHUR H. MACLAREN.

No references cited.

